


The Price of Love

by runeprincess



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Funny, Manga Spoilers, Romance, Slow Build, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2018-12-24 20:56:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12020847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runeprincess/pseuds/runeprincess
Summary: Bertolt knows what his mission is and he has planned on going through without getting close to anyone but Reiner. Despite being a titan shifter, he is still human and he starts to grow attach to his fellow soldiers. However, you, in particular, are always on his mind and he chooses his heart over his brain and purses you; worrying about the consequences later.Never really noticing Bertolt before, you quickly get close to him after your first interaction with him. His smile is what catches you off guard at first and then the rest is history after that.While the two of you get are getting close, you two are totally different people. You world was destroyed on that terrible day in Shiganshina and he was your destroyer. But, you don't know that... yet.Can one really receive a happy ending if they are in love with one of humanity's enemies?





	1. First Interactions

**Author's Note:**

> I wish there were more multi-chapter Bertolt/Reader stories. Sadly, there isn't so here is my try on one! This isn't my first fanfic, but this is my first story on this website and with Attack on Titan so I hope you enjoy!

Most people find you perhaps a little too laid-back for someone who experienced that horrible day in Shiganshina. Unlike Eren, you haven’t spoken much about that day and act like it never happened. While Eren sits and plots his revenge on the Titans, you prefer to sit back in the corner and lazily sip your bean soup as you crack sarcastic jokes to your new friends Connie and Sasha. They appear to speak the same playful language as you and you can already imagine all the fun and trouble you are going to get in with them. 

The truth is, this is just your normal personality. Even before that terrible day, you’ve always held a mischievous and sarcastic personality. It is just you decided to not let the negative feelings and trauma of that day alter you. Your coping mechanism is to simply repress your feelings and keep that smile plastered on your face, even if it is fake most of the time. Sure, it is your goal like Eren to kill all the Titans, but you aren’t a suicidal maniac like he is. Your logical side tells you to just go with the flow and always try your best during these next three years. Make close ties with your comrades so you can rely on them in the future and try to keep your head held high. 

Speaking of comrades, while you Armin, Mikasa, and Eren come from the same hometown, you never really spoke to them until you all joined the Cadet Corps. You four went to the same school, but were in separate classes. You find the three of them to be nice people though and will try to use the fact that you’re all from the same town to get closer to them. You all don’t have to be best friends, but you have a goal to make as many friends as possible. It will help feel the empty voids in your life that was once your large family. 

“Man, I’m still so hungry,” Sasha complains as she stares down at her empty tray. “I wish we were allowed to get seconds.”

An idea comes to your mind and a devilish smile spreads across your face. “I heard they keep extra bread in the back. It might be only bread, but it is better than nothing.”

Sasha’s ears perk up. “Are you saying we should sneak and take some because, if so, I’m all for it!”

You nod as Connie sighs. “Count me in, too,” he says. “I like Jean and Eren, but their bickering gets old after awhile.”

“No, let them argue,” you say. “While everyone is focusing on them, we can sneak off to get the bread and come back before anyone notices we are gone.”

Sasha slaps your back. “(Y/N), I can see now why we are friends! Let’s go!”

The three of you carry your trays to the drop off area and then hurry off to the kitchen while everyone is still engrossed with Jean and Eren. You have Connie keep lookout while you and Sasha run over to the pantry and jerk out three extra loaves of bread. Sasha slides two down her boots while you tuck yours into your slightly baggy pants.

“Okay, come on,” you whisper to Sasha, but her attention is elsewhere. “Will you stop staring at the potatoes already?”

She gives you a hungry look, mouth watering. “But, they look so fresh! Just let me take a couple! We can start a fire later and boil them!”

You shake your head. “No, then they will really notice that someone got into their pantries! Three loaves bread is enough. If you’re really that starving still, you can have half of mine.”

“U-um, what are you guys doing?” a soft voice asks from behind. The two of you tense up and slowly turn around to see Bertolt Hoover standing behind you. 

“Run!” Sasha shouts as she bolts past the boy and into the mess hall. 

You just stare behind him, searching for Connie. “Where the hell did he go?” you mumble. “Some lookout.”

Bertolt clears his throat. “H-he went to help calm Jean and Eren down. Their argument was starting to get too intense.” 

You roll your eyes in annoyance and then cross your arms. “Well, are you gonna rat us out?”

Bertolt widens his eyes in surprise and quickly shakes his head. “N-no! I-I actually came back here to warn you guys that the bell rung, signaling that dinner is over. I didn’t want anyone to come back here and catch you two doing… whatever you were doing.”

You grin and pull out the loaf of bread from your pants. “We were just taking this for poor Sasha. She was still so hungry.”

Bertolt shoots you a puzzled look. “But, then why were Sasha’s boots so bulky?”

_ Crap, this guy is sharp…  _ you think to yourself.  _ He noticed we took more than just one! _

You give him a playful smirk. “Good eye. Were you watching us the whole time coming back here instead of the fight?”

Bertolt’s face turns slightly red as he nervously stammers, “N-no! I-I j-just-”

You chuckle and reach out to pat his shoulder. However, his tall stature prevents you from doing so and you lightly hit his arm instead. “I’m just messing around with you. I don’t think you’re a stalker, Staretolt.”

The giant’s face drops a bit. “T-then, why the nickname?”

You laugh even harder and tear off a piece of the bread. “I’m sorry. You are just so easy to mess with! Here, take a piece of this as apologetic gift… and a thanks for not going to tell on us.”

For the first time since you’ve joined the Cadet Corps, you see the boy break out into a small smile. A quick warm sensation flickers inside of you and you feel your cheeks grow slightly red. 

_ He’s… He’s so cute… _

“No, thank you,” he tells you politely. “You should go ahead and give that piece to Sasha if she’s that hungry.”

You quickly recover and tuck the bread back into your pants. “That’s probably a better idea. She gets cranky if she doesn’t have a full stomach.” You tuck a piece of your (H/C) behind your ear and slightly tilt your head. “But, it was finally nice to meet you, Bertolt Hoover. It only took four months to talk to you.”

To be honest, you kind of forgot he was even in the program. He always hangs around Reiner and doesn’t speak much to others. He just kind of blends in the background.

_ If he is like that, why would he come back here to warn us?  _ You wonder to yourself.  _ He doesn’t really talk to Sasha and I. Maybe Connie since they share the same dorm, but Connie hasn’t ever spoken about him so I doubt it.  _

Bertolt only scratches the back of his neck, not really knowing what to say to your comment. Suddenly, his best friend, Reiner walks in. 

“I thought I saw you come back here,” he says and then notices you and smirks. “Oh, I see what’s going on, now. You were having a secret meetup with (Y/N). I will leave the two of you alone.”

Bertolt gasps and spins around, his face as red as a tomtato. “R-Renier!”

_ Crap, more people are going to start coming back here if Renier gets any louder! _

Not wanting to attract anymore attention, you hurry past Bertolt and Reiner and rush out to catch up with Sasha. 

Back at the mess hall, Reiner gives Bertolt a confused look. “I was just kidding, but she look frazzled. Did something really happen just now between the two of you?”

Bertolt only rubs his face and sighs. 

Back at the girls dorm, Sasha basically tackles you as soon as you walk in with tears in her eyes. "I thought you were a goner!" she shouts. "It would've been all my fault! I left you behind!" 

You nudge her off. "Stop, silly. I'm fine! I just had to convince Bertolt to not tell on us. That's all."

Sasha's demeanor changes and her eyes flash red. "You didn't give him your bread as a bribe, did you?"

You pull out the bread. "Nope, still have it!" 

Sasha inspects the bread and frowns. "Why is there a piece broken off? You were gonna give it to him as a bribe!"

You quickly stuff the bread into her mouth and then step backwards before Sasha can rip your arm off. Sasha grabs the loaf of bread like a bottle and begins to inhale it. You sweatdrop and shake your head.

_ Geez, this girl is gonna be imprisoned one day for killing someone over a potato or something. _

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Kitchen Duty**

 

“We have to clean all of this?!” you exclaim, gawking at the mountain of dirty dishes. “This is horseshit!”

“Are you talking about me?” Jean asks as he steps into the kitchen.

You arch an eyebrow towards him. “Eren’s really messed you up.”

Jean frowns. “In my defense, I have never been compared to a horse until I met him.”

You place a hand on Jean’s shoulder. “Others have just been sparing your feelings.”

Jean shoves your hand away and rolls his eyes. “Knock it off. I have one moron giving me crap. I don’t need another.”

You wave your hand. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s just go and get this over with. I have a date with the shower in an hour and I can’t be late!” Jean rolls his sleeves up as you staredown the piles of dishes once more. “Although, I don’t see how the two of us are expected to clean this whole kitchen up before curfew. I swear half of these plates are Sasha’s.”

“Good thing there are four of us on kitchen duty tonight instead of two!” a loud voice says from behind. You and Jean turn around to see Reiner and Bertolt standing with clean supplies and tools in their arms.

You clasp your hands together. “Yes! Backup came just in time! Now, my poor little fingers won’t have to shrivel up and die!”

Reiner chuckles. “You were planning on helping out, (Y/N)? I thought you would just sit in the background and stuff your face with leftovers while you ordered us around.”

You playfully roll your eyes. “I’ll be shocked if you even knew how to wash dishes, Reiner.” Jean snorts at your joke and you cut your (E/C) eyes over to him. “Why are you snorting for? Are you hungry? I’m sure there’s a carrot around here somewhere.”

Jean squints his eyes as Reiner dramatically places a free hand over his heart. “Ouch, (Y/N). That’s two out of three. Watch out, Bertolt. You’re next!”

You look over at Bertolt and he gives you a small smile and slightly cringes as he waits for your sassy comments. Unknowingly to him, the sight of his smile makes your heart skip beat.

_Damn, he did it again! Why does one little smile from him make me feel like this?_

You keep your composure and smirk towards the tall boy. “Bertolt… you and I are the only capable ones here so we are going to wash the dishes while they attempt to help and dry them.”

“Yes! We get the easy work!” Reiner cheers as he walks over to the counter tops and sets his load down.

“Humph. No fair,” Jean complains. “Bertolt gets complimented while we get insulted.”

Bertolt just stares at you in surprise at your lack of snarkiness towards him before he shakes his head and follows Reiner to set his stuff down. As Jean and Reiner set up their station, you and Berolt begin to run the hot water and spray dish liquid into it. You watch as the water starts to grow thick and foamy and an idea comes to your mind. You turn and give Bertolt a mischievous grin and he responds with a nervous glance.

“What are you planning?” he asks.

“Awh, you know me so well despite hardly knowing me at all. How sweet!” you coo before revealing your idea. “You and I are going to have race. Whoever can wash the most dishes wins and the loser gets drenched by a bucket of this soapy water!”

Bertolt gasps as Reiner and Jean gives you a look of interest. “But, the water will be so dirty by then,” Bertolt says. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

You cock an eyebrow. “Oh, so you already think you’re going to win?”

“N-no! I just-”

“GO!” Reiner suddenly shouts, interrupting his best friend.

Startled, the two of you jump before picking up a rag and hurrying to wash your first plate.

_I’m totally going to win this. I came from a large family so I’m used to washing a lot of dishes! This will be a piece of cake!_

A brief wave of sadness hurts your heart as you think about your family before shaking your head and focusing back onto the race.

“Um, can the two of you slow down?” Jean asks after a couple of minutes. “Reiner and I are having a hard time keeping up!”

“Psh, what are you talking about?” Reiner remarks as he dries off three cups at once. “I’m doing fine. You’re the one that’s slacking. I almost feel like I’m doing all of the work!”

Jean widens his eyes at the decent sized pile beside of Reiner and mumbles, “Show off…”

Fifteen minutes later, all the dishes have been washed and dried. You take a deep breathe and wipe the sweat that is gathering at your forehead from all the hard work.

 _This is probably what Bertolt feels like on a daily basis,_ you thought to yourself and giggle.

Bertolt tilts his head towards you. “Why are you giggling for?”

“Oh, I am just thinking about how fun it is going to be when I get to dump that bucket of water on you,” you reply.

The poor boy gives you an apprehensive look. “That doesn’t sound fun at all.”

You shrug. “Hey, that’s what we agreed to. Now, on a count of three we are going to say how much we washed out loud, okay?” He gulps and nods as you look over at Jean or Reiner. “One of you start the countdown.”

Still feeling salty about your comments from earlier towards him and Reiner’s skills of drying dishes, Jean takes a step back and jabs his thumb over towards Reiner.

“Alright, I’ll countdown,” Reiner says. “1… 2… 3!”

“87!”

“...88.”

You inhale sharply as Jean grins from ear to ear and bursts out laughing. “You lost by one, (Y/N)! And, this whole thing was your idea!”

Reiner gives you a sympathetic pat on your shoulder, but an amused smile rests on his face. “Man, that sucks.”

_I… I lost? Shit…_

Unlike the other two boys, Bertolt isn’t laughing or smirking. Instead, he gives you a sympathy glance and says, “We don’t have to go through with the bet, (Y/N).”

You wave your hand to dismiss the shock from your body and towards Bertolt’s offer. “Nope, I have to because a deal is a deal… even if I was the one that came up with it.” You pick up a bucket from underneath the sink, dip it into the cold and dirty water, and hand it to Bertolt. “I’m ready whenever you are!” And then, you tense up your body and squeeze your eyes shut while Jean and Reiner take a few steps back as you wait for the impact.

But, nothing happens.

You hear water being poured back into the sink and you open your eyes to see Bertolt tipping the bucket over. You blink at him in surprise and sputter out, “W-what are you doing?”

Bertolt sets the bucket on the ground and shrugs. “Even though you lost the bet, I willingly cannot just throw all of this water all you. It is disgusting and you might catch a cold when you’re walking back towards your barracks.”

A warm sensation spreads throughout your body at his kindness. “But, I still would’ve thrown the water on you if you had lost,” you tell him, almost shamefully.

Bertolt picks up on your tone of voice, places a hand on your shoulder, and bends down until he is eye level with you, forcing you to look into his dark green eyes. The closeness causes your cheeks to flare up, but you can’t bring yourself to break eye contact.

_For someone that is easily flustered, he doesn’t seem bothered by the close proximity between us._

“That wouldn’t be a bad thing,” Bertolt tells you. “That just shows how playful and fun you are.”

_And, he’s complimenting me without stammering?! Where’s the real Bertolt?!_

You just stand there speechless for a few seconds and the lack of response snaps Bertolt out of his serious demeanor and resorts him back to his normal self. Realizing how close the two of you are and nervous by your lack of response, he takes his hand off of and quickly stands up to take a step back. In the background, Jean laughs some more.

“Hey, at least we know how to shut (Y/N) up, now! Just get a good looking guy to stand close to her and compliment her! I’ll remember that for the near future.”

His comments jerks you out of your trance and you place your hands on your hips. “Don’t even bother trying to do that to me because it won’t work. A good looking guy has to be near me, remember? You just said so yourself.”

Jean gives you the middle finger and you cannot help but to burst into your own fit of laughter. From behind you, you don’t notice Reiner giving his buddy a thumbs up as Bertolt’s face grows red from indirectly calling him attractive.

“But,” you finally say after laughing. “Since Bertolt and I did the hard work, you and Reiner have to put all the dishes up.”

Jean glares at you as Reiner’s good mood fades away. “Hey, wait a minute!” Reiner protests. “It was your idea in the first place to have you wash dishes while we dry them.”

“Plus, what are you and Bertolt going to do while we put them up?” Jean questions.

“Get an early start on our evening!” you tell him as you grab ahold of Bertolt’s wrist and drag him out of the kitchen before he or anyone else can say anything.

“M-maybe we should go back and help them,” Bertolt suggests as he tries hard to ignore the fact that you’re almost holding his hand. “T-that’s a lot of dishes to put up.”

“Nah,” you reply as you continue to pull him through the mess hall. “Jean deserves it for being a dick and Reiner is just guilty by association. Internally, he was probably getting a kick out of my loss.”

Bertolt sighs. “I’m going to get a lot of crap from Reiner later because of this.”

“Just telling him that I’ll make it up to him somehow. He can beat me up the next time we have hand-to-hand combat training or I can do his laundry or something.”

Bertolt softly chuckles. “That sounds more like a punishment than a makeup. I’ll just tell him you’ll give him half your dinner one day.”

By now you are outside and a safe distance away from Jean and Reiner. You spin around to look at Bertolt, not letting go of him just yet. “No, no, no! Now, that would be a punishment!” You narrow your eyes and pursue your lips together to pout.

Bertolt’s cheeks grow red once more at your antic, he pulls his hand away from you, and bends down to retie his shoes, not allowing you to see his reaction. “D-d-don’t think like t-that. Y-you’ve been hanging around S-Sasha too much if you're t-that protective over your food.”

You open your mouth to whine some more when Sasha suddenly pops out of nowhere with a loaf of bread in her mouth. “Did I just hear my name?” she asks.

The two of you just stare at the girl in disbelief before you shake your head and look down at Bertolt. “You can go back and help Reiner and Jean if you want. I have some questions for this girl right here. Oh..." Since he is shorter than you right now you reach out and ruffle Bertolt’s hair, causing him to blush even more. “Thank you for cheering me up back there and not throwing that bucket of water on me. You're too sweet. Have a goodnight, Bertl.”

Bertolt quickly stands up and stammers out a good-bye as he watches you walk up to Sasha, pat her down, and then pull out a loaf of bread and two potatoes from her boots. He chuckles to himself as you examine the newfound foods before chucking a potato towards Bertolt and then running away with the rest of the food, leaving a frustrated Sasha to chase after you.

Bertolt glances down at the potato in his hands, smiles, and heads back inside to share with Reiner and Jean for leaving them behind.


	3. Chapter 3: New Bonds

**Chapter 3: New Bonds**

“I’m getting bored. I’m going to go,” Annie randomly says to you.

You drop your hands. “Wait, what?”

You had decided to grab Annie before she was paired off because you are making it your goal to get this girl to smile just once at you. You've pretty much have made friends with everyone else, but her shell has been the hardest to crack. Also, you had seen Annie practicing her kicks on the side and you wanted her to teach you a thing or two. Your hand to hand combat skills aren’t the best, so you were hoping to improve by her helping you. You had learned a few things in the past half hour, but now she's leaving you.

She doesn’t say anything else and turns to walk off. She doesn’t get too far until she is confronted by Reiner and Eren and then she is sparring with Eren just seconds later, kicking his ass. 

You just shake your head. “Damn, I must be sucking if she’s bored with me. Well, who is going to be my partner, now?” You mumble to myself. “Commander Shadis is going to kill me like he already has with Sasha and Connie three times now if I don’t have one.”

_ I mean, it isn’t like I am going to be a tattletale and tell on Annie for skipping out,  _ You thought. _ It is her choice and, as far as I can see, she really doesn’t need to be taking this type of training too seriously, anyways. She is a natural at it. _

“Is someone in need of a partner?” you hear someone ask from behind me.

You tense up a bit and turn around, thinking it is Commander Shadis, and relax when you see it is only Bertolt. His warm green eyes are way more welcoming than Shadis’ creepy wonky ones. 

“Ah, yes!” you reply, probably a little to excitedly. Your reaction causes his cheek to dust pink, but you don’t seem to notice. “Wait, what happened to your partner?”

“He got annoyed because he couldn’t take me down, so we went to spar with someone else,” Bertolt replies with a shrug.

You point at yourself. “Psssh, coward. Well, my 5’2 self is about to take on your 6’4 ass!”

Bertolt nods and gets into a fighting stance. “I am ready when you are.”

You toss the wooden knife towards your new partner and get into a fighting stance. “You better not go easy on me, Gentle Giant!” 

Bertolt shakes his head. “I won’t.”

And then, he charges after you at a quick speed, his long legs causing him to already halfway cover the distance between the two of you in one step. Remembering what Annie has been showing you, you bring your elbow down to act like you’re going to strike him, but then you swoop your leg around to kick him in the shin. Bertolt surprises you by jumping over your foot, wrapping his arms around your shoulders, and flipping you over.

“Agh!” you choke out as you land on the ground. 

Bertolt bends down next to you. “I'm sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you! Are you okay?”

You sit up and turn your head to speak to him, not realizing how close your faces are. “My kick was a total surprise attack! How in the world did you see right through that?”

Bertolt’s face switches from pale to pink as he widens his eyes and quickly leans back. “I-I just saw your moves coming before you completed them.” He extends out a hand, offering to help you up. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

You grab his hand and he pulls you up. “Nah, I’m fine.” You glance down at his hand and rub your thumb over the back of it, feeling Bertolt’s body slightly shudder as you do so. “Wow, you got a pretty strong grip. Do you have some muscle under that uniform of yours? Are you more than just a beanpole?”

Bertolt drops your hand and recoils his back, sweating profusely. “You’re never going to stop teasing me, are you?”

You grin and shake your head. “Nope. You’ll have to endure me for another two and half years!”

“I wouldn’t be too upset by that,” you hear Reiner say behind you, placing a hand on your shoulder. 

You look at his dirty face and uniform. “Dang, did Annie rough you up that bad?”

Reiner arches an eyebrow. “It looks like Bertolt just kicked your ass, too.”

“Touché.”  you say and then cross your arms. “But, you might as well go back to her or Eren. Bertolt is my partner right now.”

Reiner chuckles. “Oh, so now we are claiming him, now?”

You nod. “Yes. I think I should keep him Monday-Thursday and he can spend the weekends with you.”

Reiner rubs his chin. “Hmmm, I suppose I can manage that.”

Bertolt rubs his face. “Please, don’t egg her on, Reiner.” 

“Yeah, two against one isn’t far,” you say, waving a hand. “So, go away. Shoo!”

Reiner holds up his hands in defeat. “Hey, I can take a hint. I’ll leave you two so you can have some alone time.”

Bertolt gasp as his face grows from pink to red now. “R-Reiner!” 

Reinier just shrugs as you burst out in a fit of laughter and he walks away before his best friend can kill him. Even though he has walked away, you still find Reiner’s joke hilarious and you bend over, laughing. Bertolt watches you for a minute with a strange look on his face until he breaks out into a warm smile. He opens his mouth to say something when someone else beats him to it.

“And, what is so funny, (Y/L/N)?”

You widen your eyes and instantly stand up as soon as you heard Commander Shadis’ voice. You glance over at Bertolt and the warm look on his face dropped and he looked as tense as you felt.

“I-I,” you stammer and then swallow. “Bertolt hit me in my funny bone and it caused me to laugh out in pain. I never realized that getting my funny bone hit would make me laugh. I didn’t find it that funny.”

Shadis squints his eyes at me, stares a hole through Bertolt, and then back at me. “Are you being a smartass, (Y/L/N)?”

You try not to waver under his glare. “No, sir! I am completely serious, sir!”

Shadis stares you down for a couple more minutes until he realizes you wasn’t going to crack and then moves onto Bertolt. “Hoover, have some control over your attacks next time! If your opponent is laughing at you then obviously they don’t see you as a threat!” 

Sweat pours down poor Bertolt’s face as he gets into a salute. “Y-yes, sir!”

Shadis nods. “Great. Nice that the three of us have an understanding.” 

He turns around and stomps off. As soon as he is out of earshot, the two of you sigh in relief and you awkwardly scratch the back of your neck. “I’m sorry I got us into trouble. I probably should stop goofing around during training.” 

Bertolt nervously laughs. “Don’t worry about it. It could’ve been much, much worse.” He tosses the wooden knife to you. “It is your turn.”

You nod and the two of you get into a fighting stance. From the corner of your eye, you can see Shadis glaring the two of you down.

_ I hope I don’t make myself look like a fool, again… _

You take off towards him and jump to the right the last second, taking him by brief surprise. You take advantage of that split second by sliding down through the narrow spot between his leg, turning around, and you slam your feet into the back of his knees, causing him to drop onto them. You spring up, wrap your arms around his neck, and push the knife towards his neck. Before you can declare yourself the winner, he flips you over his body and pins you down. You struggle for a bit as he reaches for your knife, but you cannot break free. So, you decide to react by tilting your head up and spitting in his right eye. You stare at Bertolt in horror as he is startled by your attack and shuts his eye.

_ Holy shit… I just spit in his eye! What the… you know what? Just roll with it. _

You proceed to headbutt his forehead and he jerks back, allowing you to roll over to the side to get away. Sensing you were gone, Bertolt jumps up and quickly starts to rub the salvia out of his eye. You take the moment to jump in between his legs again. However, Bertolt realizes what you are trying to do and brings his legs together and sidesteps out of the way. He goes to kick you, but you jump up and bring up your knee to hit him in the groin. Bertolt’s eyes widen and he grabs your knee. In one swift motion, he steps towards you and sweeps your other leg from right underneath you. As you start to fall to the ground, Bertolt catches you and tugs the knife out of your hand. He gently places you onto the ground and holds the wooden weapon to your neck.

“It looks like I win, again,” Bertolt teases you with a half-smile. 

You half-heartedly giggle. “You’re just too good, Bertolt. I obviously suck at this whole fighting thing.” 

Bertolt stretches out his hand and you take it so he can help you up. “You will get better with time and practice. Although, I will have to say you don’t suck. You pulled off some… rather impressive moves on me.”

You snort. “More like cheap shots. Here you are being careful and gentle with me while not holding back at the same time and I’m shooting loogies into your eyes and trying to hit you in your manhood.”

Bertolt’s face grows red and he coughs to cover up his embarrassment. “T-there is no rules when it comes to protecting your life. If you have to fight like that in order to survive, then it doesn’t matter.”

You shake your head. “Thanks for the pep talk, but I really don’t want to rely on dirty tricks to safe my life or someone else. I mean, I still would resort to it if I need to. I just want to fight with more control and learn a variety of moves.”

Bertolt looks down at you for a moment, appearing to be deep in thought. You open your mouth to speak again, but he quickly cuts you off. “How about I become your desnatied sparring partner from now on? I can teach you how to properly defend yourself. I mean, if it is alright with you, (Y/N).”

Your face instantly brightens up at his offer. “I would love that, Bertolt!” you cheer as you place an excited hand on his arm. “Thank you so much! You’re such a great friend.”

Bertolt slightly tenses up at your touch, but soon relaxes once he sees how happy you are. “N-no problem. I’m just helping out a friend.”

_ Friends… we are friends, now _ , you think to yourself.  _ I like the sound of that! _

You look into his eyes and smile once more at him, causing Bertolt’s cheeks to flush. Then, your smile turns into a devilish smirk as you steal the knife from his hand and point it towards his throat. 

“Let me try once more and you can walk me through some steps!” 

Bertolt stares the knife down without flinching, chuckles, and simply nods his head. “Let’s get started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really do appreciate all of the comments and kudos so far! I have the next few chapters already typed/ thought out so I am going to be pretty invested with this story. I hope you all will stick around to the end!

**Author's Note:**

> What did you guys think? Comments and Kudos will let me know how you guys are liking this story and if there will be any hope for it!


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